The Diversity of REcent and Ancient huMan (DREAM): a new microarray for genetic anthropology and genealogy, forensics, and personalized medicine

The human population displays wide variety in demographic history, ancestry, content of DNA derived from hominins or ancient populations, adaptation, traits, copy number variation (CNVs), drug response, and more. These polymorphisms are of broad interest to population geneticists, forensics investigators, and medical professionals. Historically, much of that knowledge was gained from population survey projects. While many commercial arrays exist for genome-wide single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, their design specifications are limited and they do not allow a full exploration of biodiversity. We thereby aimed to design the Diversity of REcent and Ancient huMan (DREAM) - an all-inclusive microarray that would allow both identification of known associations and exploration of standing questions in genetic anthropology, forensics, and personalized medicine. DREAM includes probes to interrogate ancestry informative markers obtained from over 450 human populations, over 200 ancient genomes, and 10 archaic hominins. DREAM can identify 94% and 61% of all known Y and mitochondrial haplogroups, respectively and was vetted to avoid interrogation of clinically relevant markers. To demonstrate its capabilities, we compared its FST distributions with those of the 1000 Genomes Project and commercial arrays. Although all arrays yielded similarly shaped (inverse J) FST distributions, DREAM's autosomal and X-chromosomal distributions had the highest mean FST, attesting to its ability to discern subpopulations. DREAM performances are further illustrated in biogeographical, identical by descent (IBD), and CNV analyses. In summary, with approximately 800,000 markers spanning nearly 2,000 genes, DREAM is a useful tool for genetic anthropology, forensic, and personalized medicine studies

Gambling with the future of young people

First paragraph: UK Policy makers addressed two key public health problems last summer: smoking and gambling. Both are quasi-voluntary behaviours, involve powerful vested interests and have serious implications for the future health and well being of young people; but policy on them is going in opposite directions. July’s smokefree legislation was followed in October by a law increasing the legal age of tobacco purchase to 18. This builds on the 2002 Tobacco Advertising and Promotion Act, which removed all tobacco advertising, and the mandating of enhanced health warnings in 2001, which in October 2008 will be further improved by the addition of graphic images. These measures combine with systematic increases in the taxation on tobacco products, NHS countrywide smoking cessation services and multi-component health promotion

EFSA NDA Panel (EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies), 2013 . Scientific opinion on Dietary Reference Values for fluoride

Following a request from the European Commission, the Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies (NDA) derived Dietary Reference Values (DRVs) for fluoride, which are provided as Adequate Intake (AI) from all sources, including non-dietary sources. Fluoride is not an essential nutrient. Therefore, no Average Requirement for the performance of essential physiological functions can be defined. Nevertheless, the Panel considered that the setting of an AI is appropriate because of the beneficial effects of dietary fluoride on prevention of dental caries. The AI is based on epidemiological studies (performed before the 1970s) showing an inverse relationship between the fluoride concentration of water and caries prevalence. As the basis for defining the AI, estimates of mean fluoride intakes of children via diet and drinking water with fluoride concentrations at which the caries preventive effect approached its maximum whilst the risk of dental fluorosis approached its minimum were chosen. Except for one confirmatory longitudinal study in US children, more recent studies were not taken into account as they did not provide information on total dietary fluoride intake, were potentially confounded by the use of fluoride-containing dental hygiene products, and did not permit a conclusion to be drawn on a dose-response relationship between fluoride intake and caries risk. The AI of fluoride from all sources (including non-dietary sources) is 0.05 mg/kg body weight per day for both children and adults, including pregnant and lactating women. For pregnant and lactating women, the AI is based on the body weight before pregnancy and lactation. Reliable and representative data on the total fluoride intake of the European population are not available

A First Search for coincident Gravitational Waves and High Energy Neutrinos using LIGO, Virgo and ANTARES data from 2007

We present the results of the first search for gravitational wave bursts associated with high energy neutrinos. Together, these messengers could reveal new, hidden sources that are not observed by conventional photon astronomy, particularly at high energy. Our search uses neutrinos detected by the underwater neutrino telescope ANTARES in its 5 line configuration during the period January - September 2007, which coincided with the fifth and first science runs of LIGO and Virgo, respectively. The LIGO-Virgo data were analysed for candidate gravitational-wave signals coincident in time and direction with the neutrino events. No significant coincident events were observed. We place limits on the density of joint high energy neutrino - gravitational wave emission events in the local universe, and compare them with densities of merger and core-collapse events.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, science summary page at http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S5LV_ANTARES/index.php. Public access area to figures, tables at https://dcc.ligo.org/cgi-bin/DocDB/ShowDocument?docid=p120000

Search for Gravitational Waves from Low Mass Compact Binary Coalescence in LIGO's Sixth Science Run and Virgo's Science Runs 2 and 3

We report on a search for gravitational waves from coalescing compact binaries using LIGO and Virgo observations between July 7, 2009 and October 20, 2010. We searched for signals from binaries with total mass between 2 and 25 solar masses; this includes binary neutron stars, binary black holes, and binaries consisting of a black hole and neutron star. The detectors were sensitive to systems up to 40 Mpc distant for binary neutron stars, and further for higher mass systems. No gravitational-wave signals were detected. We report upper limits on the rate of compact binary coalescence as a function of total mass, including the results from previous LIGO and Virgo observations. The cumulative 90%-confidence rate upper limits of the binary coalescence of binary neutron star, neutron star- black hole and binary black hole systems are 1.3 x 10^{-4}, 3.1 x 10^{-5} and 6.4 x 10^{-6} Mpc^{-3}yr^{-1}, respectively. These upper limits are up to a factor 1.4 lower than previously derived limits. We also report on results from a blind injection challenge.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figures. For a repository of data used in the publication, go to: . Also see the announcement for this paper on ligo.org at: <http://www.ligo.org/science/Publication-S6CBCLowMass/index.php

First narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves from known pulsars in advanced detector data

Spinning neutron stars asymmetric with respect to their rotation axis are potential sources of continuous gravitational waves for ground-based interferometric detectors. In the case of known pulsars a fully coherent search, based on matched filtering, which uses the position and rotational parameters obtained from electromagnetic observations, can be carried out. Matched filtering maximizes the signalto- noise (SNR) ratio, but a large sensitivity loss is expected in case of even a very small mismatch between the assumed and the true signal parameters. For this reason, narrow-band analysis methods have been developed, allowing a fully coherent search for gravitational waves from known pulsars over a fraction of a hertz and several spin-down values. In this paper we describe a narrow-band search of 11 pulsars using data from Advanced LIGO’s first observing run. Although we have found several initial outliers, further studies show no significant evidence for the presence of a gravitational wave signal. Finally, we have placed upper limits on the signal strain amplitude lower than the spin-down limit for 5 of the 11 targets over the bands searched; in the case of J1813-1749 the spin-down limit has been beaten for the first time. For an additional 3 targets, the median upper limit across the search bands is below the spin-down limit. This is the most sensitive narrow-band search for continuous gravitational waves carried out so far

A geological model for the structure of ridge segments in slow spreading ocean crust

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 1994. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 99, no. B6 (1994): 11937–11958, doi:10.1029/94JB00338.First-order (transform) and second-order ridge-axis discontinuities create a fundamental segmentation of the lithosphere along mid-ocean ridges, and in slow spreading crust they commonly are associated with exposure of subvolcanic crust and upper mantle. We analyzed available morphological, gravity, and rock sample data from the Atlantic Ocean to determine whether consistent structural patterns occur at these discontinuities and to constrain the processes that control the patterns. The results show that along their older, inside-corner sides, both first-and second-order discontinuities are characterized by thinned crust and/or mantle exposures as well as by irregular fault patterns and a paucity of volcanic features. Crust on young, outside-corner sides of discontinuities has more normal thickness, regular fault patterns, and common volcanic forms. These patterns are consistent with tectonic thinning of crust at inside corners by low-angle detachment faults as previously suggested for transform discontinuities by Dick et al. [1981] and Karson [1990]. Volcanic upper crust accretes in the hanging wall of the detachment, is stripped from the inside-corner footwall, and is carried to the outside comer. Gravity and morphological data suggest that detachment faulting is a relatively continuous, long-lived process in crust spreading at <25–30 mm/yr, that it rnay be intermittent at intermediate rates of 25–40 mm/yr, and that it is unlikely to occur at faster rates. Detachment surfaces are dissected by later, high-angle faults formed during crustal uplift into the rift mountains; these faults can cut through the entire crust and may be the kinds of faults imaged by seismic reflection profiling over Cretaceous North Atlantic crust. Off-axis variations in gravity anomalies indicate that slow spreading crust experiences cyclic magmatic/amagmatic extension and that a typical cycle is about 2 m.y. long. During magmatic phases the footwall of the detachment fault probably exposes lower crustal gabbros, although these rocks locally may have an unconformable volcanic carapace. During amagmatic extension the detachment may dip steeply through the crust, providing a mechanism whereby upper mantle ultramafic rocks can be exhumed very rapidly, perhaps in as little as 0.5 m.y. Together, detachment faulting and cyclic magmatic/amagmatic extension create strongly heterogeneous lithosphere both along and across isochrons in slow spreading ocean crust.This research was supported by Office of Naval Research grants N00014-90-J-1621 and N00014-91-J-1433 and by National Science Foundation grants OCE 8716713 and OCE 9020408

The effect of octopaminergic compounds on the behaviour and transmission of Gyrodactylus

Background: The high transmission potential of species belonging to the monogenean parasite genus Gyrodactylus, coupled with their high fecundity, allows them to rapidly colonise new hosts and to increase in number. One gyrodactylid, Gyrodactylus salaris Malmberg, 1957, has been responsible for devastation of Altantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) populations in a number of Norwegian rivers. Current methods of eradicating G. salaris from river systems centre around the use of non-specific biocides, such as rotenone and aluminium sulphate. Although transmission routes in gyrodactylids have been studied extensively, the behaviour of individual parasites has received little attention. Specimens of Gyrodactylus gasterostei Gl&auml;ser, 1974 and G. arcuatus Bychowsky, 1933, were collected from the skin of their host, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.), and permitted to attach to the substrate. The movements of individual parasites were recorded and analysed. Results: The behaviour patterns of the two species were similar and parasites were more active in red light and darkness than in white light. Four octopaminergic compounds were tested and all four inhibited the movements of parasites. Treatment ultimately led to death at low concentrations (0.2 &mu;M), although prolonged exposure was necessary in some instances. Conclusions: Octopaminergic compounds may affect the parasite's ability to locate and remain on its host and these or related compounds might provide alternative or supplementary treatments for the control of G. salaris infections. With more research there is potential for use of octopaminergic compounds, which have minimal effects on the host or its environment, as parasite-specific treatments against G. salaris infections